Our Hamptons

By Our HamptonsHistory

Our Hamptons episodes

July 01, 2024 The Incredible Story of Westhampton Dunes with Mayor Gary Vegliante
Esperanza and Irwin start Season Five with Mayor Gary Vegliante of Westhampton Dunes. In the late 1980's, a severe coastal storm battered this then unincorporated section of Westhampton practically into oblivion. Homeowners lost access to their houses to the point of police barricades denying entry. Current Mayor Gary Vegliante was a teacher and restaurant owner, and along with other politically unconnected residents, fought not just "city hall", but the County, Town, State and Federal government, ultimately incorporating a Village, right down to paving the road themselves. An unbelievable, feel good story that you have to hear to believe.
48 min
June 17, 2024 Montauk's Seven Sisters
Esperanza and Irwin discuss the storied history of Montauk's Seven Sisters. In the late 1880's, Arthur Benson, the developer of the Brooklyn neighborhood Bensonhurst, purchased 10,000 Montauk acres, and within it, created a fishing retreat for six friends and himself. The houses were designed by McKim, Mead and White, and sited by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead. Kitchens were small, as meals were taken at a clubhouse. The 300 degree views of the ocean seemed to defy geography. 140 plus years later, they stood the test of time. Architectural critic Paul Golberger calls it "one of the most important architectural assemblages on the East coast".
36 min
June 03, 2024 The Sullivanians: A True Story, with author Alexander Stille
Esperanza and Irwin welcome Columbia University Professor Alexander Stille, the author of The Sullivanians. The Sullivan Institute was a maverick psychoanalytic practice and cult that flourished on the Upper West Side from 1957 until 1991. Paramount to the Sullivanian doctrine was the rejection of the traditional nuclear family and monogamous relationships. “The Sullivanians told myparents that the worst thing a person can do is raise their own children,” said Lauren Olitski, the daughter of painter and patient Jules Olitski. The patients were high functioning, intelligent and creative people, including the singer Judy Collins and writer Richard Price. But its influence over Jackson Pollock, and its presence in the Barnes Landing section of Springs for a fascinating, and different, Our Hamptons Podcast.
39 min
May 20, 2024 Larry Rivers "Legs" and Public Art on the East End.
In 2008, Larry Rivers 16 foot tall "Legs" was installed outside a private residence in Sag Harbor. The usual questions abounded; was it art, was it a structure, did it have a place as a public art display. An East End version of a centuries old battle over what can be deemed art, what can't, and who can judge the difference? In fact, in 1989 East Hampton Village banned outside displays of art within its historic district where Guild Hall, an arts center and museum, sits on Main Street within the district. Esperanza and Irwin engage in a free wheeling discussion of all of the above, with an impromptu musical interlude to boot.
38 min
May 06, 2024 The Rise and Fall of East End Discos
Esperanza has lamented the current lack of nightlife and dancing on the East End on numerous Our Hamptons podcasts. So we decided to transport ourselves and our audience back to the era of Saturday Night Fever, and disco itself. Even the high school had something called Bonac Bandstand, and in fact partied (dry of course) at the Mellow Mouth Disco at 44 Three Mile Harbor Road. As often happens on Our Hamptons, the history and tenants of the building over the past 100+ years became an integral part of the story.
40 min
April 22, 2024 Young in the Hamptons: Asparagus Beach, Amagansett.
The biggest single scene on the East End in the late 1970’s had to be Asparagus Beach in Amagansett, or what we refer to today as simply Atlantic Ave. Singles would stand around like upright stalks of Asparagus, to see and be seen. String bikinis ruled the day, as did groupers; not the fish, but the participants themselves who squeezed into rental share houses, predominately in Amagansett’s Beach Hampton neighborhood. A fun look back at an absolute moment in time where to be “Young in the Hamptons” was all that. Well, sort of anyway!
34 min
April 08, 2024 East End TV, or Lack Thereof, Circa 1970's.
Esperanza and Irwin hearken back to the days before 300 plus cable tv channels and numerous streaming options. If you're of a certain age, you remember channels 2 to 13, and possibly UHF. Rooftop antennas, tin foil on the rabbit ears. But eastern Long Island weren't getting TV out of NYC. Apparently, those signals did not travel effectively west to east. Rather, channels out of Hartford, New Haven and Providence were the only game in town, and not all to clear either. A fun look back at an era where technology certainly did not rule.
34 min
March 25, 2024 The Bonackers Project with Producer Joanne Roberts
Esperanza and Irwin welcome the filmmaker Joanne Roberts to discuss The Bonackers Project. The loss of the commercial fishing industry on the east end has been well documented. Overreaching government intrusion, onerous regulations and a powerful sports fishing lobby, combined with ever increasing house prices damaged an industry whose legacy dates back hundreds of years. Joanne shares the stories, and the challenges the remaining fisherman and baymen face, and the timetable for the film's release.
37 min
March 11, 2024 The Fish Factories of Promised Land, Lazy Point.
Esperanza and Irwin discuss a time when unspoiled Lazy Point was an industrial zone unto itself, with multiple fish factories operating. They even had their own LIRR Train Station for the employees to arrive there from points west. It was seemingly the perfect place for an industry that generated some awful smells from the factories. But with its isolated location it really wasn't bothering anyone. Until it was.
30 min
February 26, 2024 100+ Years of One Main Street, East Hampton
Esperanza and Irwin discuss the storied history and many lives of the most prominent commercial address in East Hampton, if not the entire East End: One Main Street. Perched on the most prominent location in the Village, the northwestern corner of Newtown Lane and Main Street, the tenants, and the stories speak metaphorically to all the changes in East Hampton over the past hundred years.
40 min